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MR. DAVID GREGORY: Our issues this Sunday: The president calls it the most dangerous place in the world. The front line in the war on terror is now the rugged frontier lands of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It's where al-Qaeda terrorists and the Taliban have come back with vengeance in the years after 9/11, and where the White House has decided to surge more than 20,000 additional U.S. troops. This week, an unprecedented White House summit with the region's leaders and a warning.
PRES. BARACK OBAMA: The security of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States are linked.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: Is it America's war or their war? And is it winnable? With us exclusively this morning, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.
Then, insights and analysis on why these two countries now represent the most pressing national security challenge to the Obama White House. With us, Steve Coll of The New Yorker magazine, former longtime foreign correspondent and senior editor of The Washington Post and author of the best-selling book "Ghost Wars" about Osama bin Laden and the U.S. engagement with Afghanistan; and Andrea Mitchell, chief foreign affairs correspondent of NBC News.
But first, the presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan. I sat down with both leaders earlier this week after their White House meetings. Pakistan's President Zardari, in office for the last eight months, is the widower of slain Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. I began by asking about the Taliban and whether he agrees with the Obama administration that the group represents an existential threat to his country.
MR. ASIF ALI ZARDARI: No, I consider the philosophy of Taliban as threat to the world, not just to Pakistan and your country, but I feel it's a larger threat.
MR. GREGORY: Existential threat to Pakistan?
MR. ZARDARI: Pakistan, the whole world. They start from the Horn of Africa and come down all the way to Pakistan. They don't evolve from Pakistan and go up, they come down.
MR. GREGORY: Do you consider the Taliban to be a bigger threat today than India?
MR. ZARDARI: I consider it a different--they're--India's a country and Pakistan is a, a...(unintelligible)...we're, we're two states which in fact Pakistan stemmed out of the subcontinent out of India. So it's a different relationship, it's a different context.
MR. GREGORY: Is there a war with the Taliban inside Pakistan?
MR. ZARDARI: There is a war, sir.
MR. GREGORY: And is it America's war or Pakistan's war?
MR. ZARDARI: It's a war of our existence. We've been fighting this war much before they attacked 9/11. They're kind of a cancer created by both of us, Pakistan and America and the world. We got together, we created this cancer to fight the superpower and then we went away--rather, you went away without finding a cure for it. And now we've both come together to find a cure for it, and we're looking for one.
MR. GREGORY: When you speak like that, it doesn't sound as if you consider it Pakistan's war, you consider it America's responsibility.
MR. ZARDARI: No, I think it's a joint responsibility. I think it's the joint responsibilities of all the democracies of the world. That's why we made this Friends of Democratic Pakistan, so we can bring most strength to the situation. You've got to admit that you all have been trying to battle it for the last eight years. The--all the...(unintelligible)...world powers have been trying to battle it for the last eight years in Afghanistan and nobody's come out of victorious yet.
MR. GREGORY: And so you say there is a commitment on the part of Pakistan to fight the Taliban now. How many troops, how many Pakistani troops do you now have in the western part of your country battling the Taliban?
MR. ZARDARI: Three times the amount of troops you have battling them in Afghanistan. That's 125,000 we have on ground.
MR. GREGORY: And yet the administration--you have a military force of roughly 660--650,000 men.
MR. ZARDARI: Oh.
MR. GREGORY: Has the administration said to you there should be more fighting men in the west?
MR. ZARDARI: There is a point of view that more men might improve the situation, but that's something that's still disputed by our military analysts. We don't think that more--presence of more troops there--you must remember, 650-personnel strong army doesn't mean they're all infantry. That's the fighting brigade of the infantry, that's the teeth of the army. So they're not all infantry. They're tank drivers, they're truck drivers, they're other--gunners, etc., etc. So we have an infantry of 250,000, out of which 125,000 happens to be in those mountains.
MR. GREGORY: So you have a sufficient number of troops fighting the Taliban.
MR. ZARDARI: We think, we think they're sufficient.
MR. GREGORY: You appeared on Capitol Hill this week, and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Howard Berman, said this, speaking of you. He said, "He did not present a coherent strategy for the defeat of this insurgency. I had a sense of what they're doing today," he said, "I did not have a sense of what they plan to do tomorrow." What's the strategy?
MR. ZARDARI: So, well, he didn't even ask me, so that's OK. But I'll tell you what I've got planned to do. We, we've been loving...(unintelligible)...in, in America, my wife was loving, and we were of the view and always have been of the view that democracy is the answer to the problem. Like somebody said, it may be--not be the best form of government, but it's the only form of government. Now we've got democracy. Democracy needs help. It needs a little more help than we've been getting in the past. What the American public and people at large do not understand is for 10 years you have given $10 billion to a dictator, but you've given them for the war in these mountains. So it's actually reimbursement for the money spent; after all, 125,000 troops moving in logistically, otherwise do cost. So you've been paying back...(unintelligible)...into Pakistan for the expenses occurred as such. But we need to support democracy.
MR. GREGORY: Mm-hmm.
MR. ZARDARI: We need to support the country, we need support--we need to support the systems. And we've been involved for the last 30 years. It's not 10 years.
MR. GREGORY: But is that a strategy for cracking down on the Taliban insurgency?
MR. ZARDARI: Sure it is. Sure it is. The stronger my institutions are, the more the youth I employ, the less fodder they have. The more poverty goes down, the less fodder they have to recruit from. That's the strategy. What else can--what--there is no scientific theorem to that. And if there was one, if you had a strategy, you would've done it in a, in 10 years.
MR. GREGORY: But there's a military question, which is, is Pakistan capable of dealing with an insurgency, capable of mounting an effective counterinsurgency when the orientation of your military's primarily been to fight a big enemy to the east in India, predicated on the idea of some kind of deterrence? Are you able to mount a counterinsurgency strategy at this point?
MR. ZARDARI: Sir, we've been in this war for the last seven years. But if you see the record of the one year that the democratic government of Pakistan, the PPP government and its allies has been there, we've done more to damage the infrastructure of the Talibans or the--or these miscreants, whatever you need to call them, than ever before.
MR. GREGORY: And yet there are some who say that the strategy has not borne fruit. You went in--so people understand, you went into an area north of Islamabad, the Swat Valley, and you essentially made a deal with the Taliban, which is they would put down their arms if Islamic law could be applied, could be implemented there.
MR. ZARDARI: Incorrect.
MR. GREGORY: Incorrect. Tell me what's correct.
MR. ZARDARI: The correct position is that we came up with the formula which was that there would be speedy justice there known as...(foreign language spoken). Nothing to do with Sharia law. It's been interpreted by--as Sharia law by them. And then that didn't work. But we had to get the population to be with us. The population was fed up with them and was fed up with the fighting. Some--the provincial government came up with this idea that let's go for a peace deal and let's get the people involved. They tried it. It hasn't worked.
MR. GREGORY: But when you made this deal, when you actually signed this deal...
MR. ZARDARI: The parliament signed on this deal. The parliament recommended me--to me to sign.
MR. GREGORY: Were you against it?
MR. ZARDARI: I was--yes, I had a position against it.
MR. GREGORY: Right. Why? Why did you think it was misguided?
MR. ZARDARI: I thought that it won't work.
MR. GREGORY: You think it was abdication to the Taliban?
MR. ZARDARI: No, it's not abdication. I thought that the Talibans are not rational people. I don't think there's any good Talibans. The world does, so that's a defensive opinion.
MR. GREGORY: But so you think there's no negotiating with them.
MR. ZARDARI: I don't think there should be a negotiating with them at the moment. Maybe one day when there is enough, we've done enough.
MR. GREGORY: Mm-hmm.
MR. ZARDARI: Then always--there cannot only, only be war. There has to be a--the parliament has come up with a strategy where there's the three D's: dialogue, deterrence and development. So we have to go into dialogue by the will of the people, which we did. It didn't work. Now we've got to do the, the deterrence phase where we are fighting. And then once we've calmed the situation down in--then we'll go to the development stage to give them the ownership, give them schools.
MR. GREGORY: You have the fighting that's going on in Swat. You have the Taliban insurgency there. That insurgency has also spread into Punjab, to the state of Punjab. I don't have to tell you, that's where half of Pakistan's population is. And it has lead to some dire assessments by analysts who look at your country with a critical eye, including a former adviser to General David Petraeus who helped him with the insurgency in Iraq, and he said this: "We're now reaching the point where within one to six months we could see the collapse of the Pakistani state," because the Taliban insurgency has so destabilized Pakistan. Does he have that right?
MR. ZARDARI: I think you--he's had other positions wrong before, so--and having said that, we have a threat, yes. Is the state of Pakistan going to collapse? No. We are 180 million people. The population is much, much more than the, the insurgents are. But we do have a problem. We have a problem because it's been there. It was like I said, it was a monster created by all, all of us. We got together and we didn't--we forgot to make a cure for it.
MR. GREGORY: Can you survive politically?
MR. ZARDARI: Of course.
MR. GREGORY: Is it possible to defeat this insurgency without U.S. soldiers fighting by your side or at least training your soldiers in Pakistan?
MR. ZARDARI: I think we need to find a strategy where the world gets together against this threat, because it's not Pakistan specific, it's not Afghanistan specific. Like I said, it's all the way from the Horn of Africa. You've had attacks in Spain, you've had attacks in Britain, you've had attacks in America, you've had attacks in Africa, Saudi Arabia. So I think the world needs to understand that this is the new challenge of the 21st century and this is the new war, and we've all got together.
MR. GREGORY: The question a lot of people ask is are you--is Pakistan really committed to that war? In The New York Times Dexter Filkins, who, who's reported from Afghanistan and Pakistan, writes this: "Whose side is Pakistan really on? ... Little in Pakistan is what it appears. For years, the survival of Pakistan's military and civilian leaders has depended on a double game: assuring the United States that they were vigorously repressing Islamic militants--and in some cases actually doing so--while simultaneously tolerating and assisting the same militants. From the anti-Soviet fighters of the 1980s and the Taliban of the 1990s to the homegrown militants of today, Pakistan's leaders have been both public enemies and private friends. When the game works, it reaps great rewards: billions in aid to boost the Pakistani economy and military and Islamist proxies to extend the government's reach into Afghanistan and India."
MR. ZARDARI: I think it's an old concept, an old theory that he's talking about. And what billions are you talking about? Like I said, a billion dollar a year? That's not even--altogether, this aid package is not even one tenth of what you gave AIG. So let's face it; we need, in fact, much more help. We are responsible, a responsible state. We've brought democracy back, it's a young democracy. Accept it, it was not me who was aiding the dictators of the past.
MR. GREGORY: Is there a view, however, in Pakistan that the Taliban should be kept around for a rainy day, as it's been said, as a bulwark against Indian influence in neighboring Afghanistan?
MR. ZARDARI: I don't think so. I don't think so.
MR. GREGORY: You don't think that was part of the past at all?
MR. ZARDARI: I think in--it was part of your past and our past, and the ISI and the CIA created them together. And I can find you 10 books and 10 philosophers and 10 write-ups on that, of what all you didn't do.
MR. GREGORY: Fair argument, certainly, a lot of people would agree with you. But did the game change after 9/11 to a point where the U.S. decided to root out this threat and Pakistan was straddling both sides?
MR. ZARDARI: You tell me. I was imprisoned by the same dictator you were supporting. You were supporting a dictator who...
MR. GREGORY: You're speaking of General Musharraf.
MR. ZARDARI: I'm speaking of General Musharraf. In fact, I lost my wife on his watch and I has--I spent five years in his prison.
MR. GREGORY: But, Mr. President, you know well that there is a widespread belief that your military and your intelligence services still have these same sympathies for the Taliban.
MR. ZARDARI: I wouldn't agree with you. I think General Musharraf may have had a mind-set that I--to run with the head and hunt with the hound. But certainly not on our watch. We don't have that thought process at all.
MR. GREGORY: Let me ask you about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. There's been a question about the security of that arsenal. You've assured the world that those nuclear weapons are secure. But I wonder why you're continuing to add to your stockpile, add to your arsenal at what is described as a pretty fast rate when there's so much instability in the country?
MR. ZARDARI: That's, that's, that's not a fact. It's a, it's a position that some people have taken. We, we're not adding to our stockpile as such. Why do we need more?
MR. GREGORY: So you're not adding to your nuclear arsenal at all?
MR. ZARDARI: I don't think so, no.
MR. GREGORY: You don't--do you know?
MR. ZARDARI: Even if I did, I wasn't going to tell you.
MR. GREGORY: There is a view that--in the intelligence community in this country that it does not know where all the nuclear weapons are within Pakistan. Why not share that information so there could be a joint strategy to keep those weapons secure?
MR. ZARDARI: Why don't you do the same with other countries yourself? I think it's a sovereignty issue and we have a right to our own sovereignty. It's a sovereign country.
MR. GREGORY: Who's in control of Pakistan, you or the military?
MR. ZARDARI: I think the military is in control of their hemisphere and I'm in control of the whole country.
MR. GREGORY: Can they overrule you?
MR. ZARDARI: No. I can overrule them.
MR. GREGORY: Haven't they overruled you in the past?
MR. ZARDARI: No. We've gone to their position and they've come to our positions.
MR. GREGORY: But you still have final say?
MR. ZARDARI: The parliament has final say. It's the parliament that forms government, and I am a product of the parliament.
MR. GREGORY: But why is it when you wanted your intelligence chief to go to Mumbai you were overruled by your military?
MR. ZARDARI: No, it was not overruled by the military. They thought it was too, too soon. And eventually we've offered for the intelligence chief to meet.
MR. GREGORY: There's a lot of discussion about additional aid, as you've been talking about throughout our conversation, for Pakistan, $1.5 billion for five years, a total of $7.5 billion. But as you know, there's discussion about putting some strings, some limits on that aid based on performance by Pakistan. Do you disagree with that policy?
MR. ZARDARI: I think it's doubting an ally before you go into action together. If we are allies--and we, and we understand, it's an accepted position that you--we cannot work this problem out unless Pakistan, Afghanistan and America are on the same page. How do you go and take an ally along by saying, "OK, I don't trust you," from the first day? It's not a, a good position to be in. So I feel that we shouldn't have any, any kind of conditionalities. We should have a result, a result-oriented relationship where I should be given a time line and I'll give you all a time line so we can both give each other time lines and meet the time lines on, on the, on, on the positive.
MR. GREGORY: In terms of U.S.-Pakikstani cooperation, there are drones that fire missiles and target Taliban and other extremists, al-Qaeda figures, within Pakistan. Do you consider those to be effective?
MR. ZARDARI: I would consider them to be very effective if they were part of my arsenal. I've been asking for them, but I haven't got a positive answer as yet. But I'm not giving up.
MR. GREGORY: Where is Osama bin Laden?
MR. ZARDARI: You all have been there for eight years, you tell me. You lost him in Tora Bora, I didn't. I was in prison. In fact, my wife warned America about Osama bin Laden in '89. She rung up senior Bush and asked, asked of him, "Are you destabilizing my government?" Because he paid the then opposition $10 million to do--overthrow the first woman elected in Islamic country. So we knew that he was your operator. And...
MR. GREGORY: But you're not actively looking for him?
MR. ZARDARI: I think the world is looking for him, and we are part of the world's lookout brigade.
MR. GREGORY: Do you think he's alive or dead?
MR. ZARDARI: I've said before that he--I don't think he's alive.
MR. GREGORY: And you believe that.
MR. ZARDARI: I have a strong feeling and I have sole reason to believe that, because I've asked my counterparts in the American intelligence agencies and they haven't heard of him since seven years.
MR. GREGORY: Mr. President, thank you very much for your views and good luck with your work.
MR. ZARDARI: Thank you, sir.
MR. GREGORY: Coming next, seven years after 9/11 and the war rages on with the insurgent Taliban still controlling parts of Afghanistan. Can the government regain control? And the tough issue of civilian casualties due to U.S. air strikes. Some harsh words from President Hamid Karzai. Our exclusive interview from earlier this week is next.
MR. GREGORY: Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai after this brief commercial break.
MR. GREGORY: Mr. President, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS.
MR. HAMID KARZAI: Happy to be here.
MR. GREGORY: President Obama talked about the deterioration in Afghanistan during a speech back in March. This is what he said.
(Videotape, March 27, 2009)
PRES. OBAMA: The situation is increasingly perilous. It's been more than seven years since the Taliban was removed from power, yet war rages on. Insurgents control parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Attacks against our troops, our NATO allies and the Afghan government have ridden--risen steadily. And most painfully, 2008 was the deadliest year of the war for American forces.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: So here we are seven years after the attacks of September 11th, 2001. Another American president is committing troops to Afghanistan, 21,000 additional troops. By this summer there'll be 68,000 U.S. troops. My question: Is it too little, too late?
MR. KARZAI: Well, a very important question, indeed. When we began in 2001 with the arrival of the international community in Afghanistan and the two--the Afghan people and the international community joining hands, we together defeated the Taliban and the terrorists and al-Qaeda in less than a month and a half. Subsequent to that the Afghan people would, as we established the interim government, would come in large numbers, hundreds of them, to my office and ask for more international forces in the country, in their villages, in their towns, in their districts. That didn't happen at that time. So in that sense, the arrival of more forces is late. It should've happened then, six years ago, and we should've paid attention then, six years ago, to the sanctuaries, to the training grounds, to the--those financing the terrorists. It's a bit late. But as we all know, it's never too late for a good thing to do.
MR. GREGORY: With 21,000 additional troops, there's a question of what can be gained. But the issue of civilian casualties as a result of U.S. air strikes, how much damage does that do to the U.S. effort?
MR. KARZAI: A lot of damage. This is something that I've been engaged with with our allies for at least six years now.
MR. GREGORY: And you talked to President Obama about it.
MR. KARZAI: Oh, very, very much. For as least six years now, in different ways and different forms. The Afghan people are allies of the United States. The Afghan people want this effort together to succeed. The Afghan people see that the presence of the international community in Afghanistan brings us plenty of good things. But Afghan people also want to have their children safe. The Afghan people say we are fighting together with you, shoulder to shoulder against terrorism, that we are part of the struggle; that we are not--our homes, our villages are not places for terrorism and that they should be safe. It's an important thing that America recognize that civilian casualties are the biggest concern of Afghanistan and a damage to the effort against terrorists.
MR. GREGORY: When President Obama addressed the American people and announced more troops going to your country, he raised a very important question, which is what is America's purpose...
MR. KARZAI: Mm-hmm.
MR. GREGORY: ...in Afghanistan? Dexter Filkins, veteran war correspondent, has covered Afghanistan and Pakistan thoroughly for The New York Times, writes in the current edition of The New Republic this, and he starts with a question: "What can be won in Afghanistan? Driving around the country, as I did recently, one is constantly overwhelmed by how little has been accomplished there. In December 2001, the country lay in ruins. Today, it is still pretty much the same place. ... Today, Taliban fighters move freely across the countryside, and in some places they have set up a shadow government. ... After eight years of neglect, the Afghanistan state is a weak and pathetic thing." Pretty strong words. Why is that the case?
MR. KARZAI: Very wrong words.
MR. GREGORY: Wrong. You say it's wrong.
MR. KARZAI: Very wrong words. Pretty strong, wrong words. It isn't like that. In 2001, Afghanistan did not have a single kilometer of paved road. Today Afghanistan has its ring road completed, nearly 3,000 kilometers and above. Today we have many of the roads in the cities paved. Today we have health services, which were only to about 9 percent of the Afghan population in 2002, reaching nearly 85 percent and over of the Afghan population. The rural developing program of Afghanistan goes to more than half of Afghanistan's 40,000 villages. In 2002, we had 4,000 students in Afghanistan universities and only three or four universities. Today we have 75,000 students in Afghan universities, 14 public universities and, and many private universities. In 2002, the 4,000 students that we had were all boys, men. Today, nearly 40 percent are girls of the 75,000. Today we have thousands of Afghans studying abroad, at least 1,000 each year in India and hundreds in Europe and America. We have experts return to Afghanistan. I met with them three months ago. The country is a lot better.
MR. GREGORY: Back in 2003, this is what you said about the Taliban. They were the ones who provided safe haven to al-Qaeda, these are the people that threatened both Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is what you said back in June of 2003: "I am not worried about the resurgence of the Taliban. The Taliban movement as a movement is finished and is gone." Were you wrong about that?
MR. KARZAI: I was not wrong about that.
MR. GREGORY: But they're back.
MR. KARZAI: I was, I--no. It's--there's a difference. The Taliban as a movement is gone from ruling Afghanistan. They were the government in Afghanistan. In 2001 they were the government. Today they are not the government. In 2002 they were threatening you. Today they are not, from Afghanistan. Yes, they are a threat in the form of the terrorism that they bring upon us, in the form of the violence that they bring upon us; not as an organized political force holding the government in Afghanistan. That's not there.
MR. GREGORY: Are they an existential threat to your leadership?
MR. KARZAI: They're not an existential threat to Afghanistan's government. They are a threat to our, to our efforts towards more security, more progress, more reconstruction and a more peaceful life. That threat they definitely are, and especially in parts of the country. That's strongly there, yes.
MR. GREGORY: The new administration has a slightly different strategy for trying to deal with the Taliban, and it has to do with operations on a tactical level, similar to what was done in Iraq, to try to turn some of these what might be called irreconcilables and bring them into the American fold.
MR. KARZAI: Mm-hmm.
MR. GREGORY: This is how the president described it back in that March speech.
(Videotape, March 27, 2009)
PRES. OBAMA: There is an uncompromising core of the Taliban. They must be met with force and they must be defeated. But there are also those who've taken up arms because of coercion or simply for a price. These Afghans must have the option to choose a different course. And that's why we will work with local leaders, the Afghan government and international partners to have a reconciliation process in every province.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: Now, you have called that reconciliation process...
MR. KARZAI: Yes.
MR. GREGORY: ...unworkable. Why do you believe that?
MR. KARZAI: No. I, I didn't call the reconciliation process unworkable. And by the way, I agree with President Obama's description of the elements of peacemaking with the Taliban. Those Taliban who have been driven out of the country by fear or coercion or intimidation by our forces or the international forces, or by whatever other circumstances that they've found themselves compelled to leave the country and take guns against us are the ones that we want to reconcile with. They are the sons of the soil, they must return. To be very precise, those of the Taliban who are part of al-Qaeda or other terrorist networks, or those who are in the grip of, you know, intelligence services must not and cannot come to Afghanistan because they will continue to bring violence and destruction and, and, and damage to Afghanistan. But those who have been driven out of fear or the other circumstances that I described earlier are welcome. They're the sons of our soil, they're from our country and we want to reconcile with them. And that's what President Obama was referring to. What I was objecting to was the international forces directly engaging at local level with the Taliban commanders for reconciliation. That is the job of the Afghan government.
MR. GREGORY: Speaking about the Taliban and the defeat of the Taliban and al-Qaeda generally, do you have more confidence today in Pakistan's commitment to fighting and defeating the Taliban than you did under General Musharraf?
MR. KARZAI: Definitely more, yes. Definitely there is a recognition the Pakistani leadership and the democratically-elected leadership. They see very much the same way things that, that, that--as we see; therefore, we have a lot more confidence there. We had a very good meeting in Washington. I hope that this will be taken into further steps, meaning implementation on the ground. I'm a lot more confident and a lot more hopeful.
MR. GREGORY: You are running for re-election, and as you campaign you've had some pretty pointed messages. You're critical of the United States for civilian casualties as a result of U.S. air raids. You also were at a rally recently during which you were very clear and you said, "Look, I have made certain demands of the Americans, and if they do not provide additional aircraft, for instance, I'll go somewhere else and I'll get it." You appeared to threaten the administration, and I wonder whether your core political message is an anti-American message.
MR. KARZAI: It is not. It is very much a pro-American message. So the Afghans do want this relationship with America to continue, but of course Afghanistan has a character of its own and an interest of its own and a demand upon our allies as well. We are, we are your front line in the war on terrorism. The Afghan people have given everything on a daily basis in the war on terrorism. We have our police dying every day, at least five, six of them. Our security forces...(unintelligible)...people. Our villages are not where the terrorists are. And that's what we kept telling the U.S. administration, that the war on terrorism is not in the Afghan villages, not in the Afghan homes. Respect that. Civilian casualties are undermining support in the Afghan people for the war on terrorism and for the, the, the relations with America. How can you expect a people who keep losing their children to remain friendly?
MR. GREGORY: And yet...
MR. KARZAI: And, and, and that's a moral question as well. We have to be morally on a much higher platform in our force to win the war on terrorism.
MR. GREGORY: And do you worry, do you worry that the U.S. has not met that standard?
MR. KARZAI: The U.S. has...
MR. GREGORY: Have they not met their own moral standard?
MR. KARZAI: The U.S., the U.S., the U.S. has not met that standard in Afghanistan. The United States must stand on a much higher moral platform in order for us together to win this war.
MR. GREGORY: Let me be clear about what you are saying. Are you suggesting that the United States is waging an immoral war in Afghanistan?
MR. KARZAI: No. No. It's not immoral war, it's the standard of morality that we are seeking which is also one that is being desired and spoken about in America. In other words, are we the same as the terrorists, are we the same as the bad guys, or are we standing on a much higher moral, moral platform? Are we better human beings or not? We must definitely be better human beings in order for us to tell the people that, "Look, those guys are wrong and we are better." And we must show that in our practice, and that practice should be extreme care for civilians and their children and their homes and, and, for the civilians to see us completely distinct and separate from the terrorists. So we have to be better. My moral, moral platform has to be a lot higher, a lot more distinct and likeable than the terrorists and the bad guys. That's what separates us. Otherwise there'll be no difference, so why should the people care about us or--and not care about them? Do you get my point?
MR. GREGORY: And yet Secretary of Defense Gates has made the point that there has to be sustained commitment on the part of the Afghan people and the Afghan government.
MR. KARZAI: And there is.
MR. GREGORY: He says this: "It's absolutely critical that the Afghans believe that this is their war. it is their war against people who are trying to overthrow their government that they democratically elected." Do you think that's the view of your people?
MR. KARZAI: That is absolutely the view of our people. And that's why our people, even when they are bombed, even when they suffer, they still come to us. They receive me in their midst when I go to, to offer my condolences. They receive the American soldiers, they receive the American officers when a, when an incident like that. In Farah there was an incident of massive civilian casualties, and the U.S. military officials and the Afghan government went together to the population. That means the people are still with us. Had they been against us, they would have not received us, they would have not come to us. But then, there is a limit to all of that. Any society will, will, will get fed up with, with, with continued violence and continued casualties. That is something very, very serious. And I, and I have conveyed this to my friends in America in all humility and friendship, on behalf of the Afghan people, that Afghans are a straightforward, honest allies, believing in the cause that we have undertaken, and that's why we were able to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda in less than a month and a half. And if you continue to behave the way we are, we will lose that. And that's, and that's a correct thing to do.
MR. GREGORY: Before you go, just a couple of other issues. One of the big issues fueling the insurgency in Afghanistan is the poppy crop, opium. This is what you said on this program back in 2004.
(Videotape, June 13, 2004)
MR. KARZAI: This production of, of, of poppies supports terrorism. It criminalizes the economy. It undermines institution building in Afghanistan. Afghanistan will have to destroy it for the sake of the Afghan people and also because of...(unintelligible). We will succeed because we have to succeed.
(End of videotape)
MR. GREGORY: And yet today 60 percent of Afghanistan's gross domestic product is poppy, it is opium. It accounts for 93 percent of the world's production of opium. That's not a very strong record.
MR. KARZAI: It isn't, it isn't like that today. When I was speaking, was it 2004, we had only--well, in 2005 we had only three provinces free of poppies in Afghanistan. Today we have 22 provinces free of poppies in Afghanistan, either completely or mostly, you know, to, to a bigger extent. Only one province in the country is producing poppies to the quantity that it can make 60 percent of Afghanistan's exports. So Afghanistan has made progress in, in, in, in reducing poppies in Afghanistan, in eradicating and removing it from, from our, our culture. But the money that is spent to eradicate poppies and to provide it with alternative livelihoods is something that we have a question about with our allies.
MR. GREGORY: Finally, this spring you signed a law that makes it legal for Afghan men to rape their wives. Now, you have said in the past month that you were reviewing that law. Are you going to repeal it?
MR. KARZAI: It has been reviewed. When--there's so much that I can talk about in response to what is there. It is not exactly as, as is printed in the, in the, in parts of the world media. But when I heard of this, I called the minister of justice and he told me that there were problems in this law and that it will be--then I instructed the review and amendment of the law. I called in the clergy in the country, the senior most who, who had a hand in drafting this law, and they'd redo the...(unintelligible)...amend it and redraft it, and even parts of the law removed. I've already done that. The minister of justice was with me about 10 days ago to give me the amended law that will be sent to the parliament. So it's something that we have to do.
MR. GREGORY: Right.
MR. KARZAI: And we have to correct it, regardless of whether it's...
MR. GREGORY: So how--just to be clear then, how are you correcting it? What is permissible behavior?
MR. KARZAI: But it's, it's, it's, it's--well, it's, it's, it's the--it's not my choice. It has to go through a legal process and consultation and back to the parliament. We are a democratic country. We have a parliament that, that passes laws like that, that debates them and then sends them back to the concerned lobbies.
MR. GREGORY: But, but are basic human rights part of your democratic values?
MR. KARZAI: Absolutely. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
MR. GREGORY: So, so raping of women is a crime in Afghanistan and will be a crime?
MR. KARZAI: Absolutely. Absolutely. A crime in Afghanistan, because our religion is extremely, extremely difficult on that.
MR. GREGORY: So this particular area, the, the ability to rape your wife is something that will be repealed.
MR. KARZAI: Rape has, rape has...
MR. GREGORY: Is that--are you saying that unequivocally?
MR. KARZAI: It is not, it is not in the law. This--it's not in these very sharp words that are described in the Western media. Even if it is milder than that, it is wrong and it will be repealed, it will be removed and the amendment will be made in this law. So the Afghan people don't want that and the Afghan people are sensitive about it. I assure you that has been done.
MR. GREGORY: Right.
MR. KARZAI: It's something that really embarrassed us when it came out. We are a lot more aware a nation, a lot more culturally good nation than sometimes we are seen in, in, in the rest of the world.
MR. GREGORY: So in democratic Afghanistan it is illegal for a man to rape his wife?
MR. KARZAI: Absolutely. Absolutely. Like hell. Sure.
MR. GREGORY: All right, Mr. President, thank you very much. Good luck with your important work.
MR. KARZAI: Thank you.
MR. GREGORY: Coming next, some perspective and analysis on our interviews with Presidents Zadari and Karzai. What now for the U.S.? NBC's chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell and The New Yorker's Steve Coll, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Ghost Wars" about the CIA's involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan after this brief station break.
MR. GREGORY: We are back. And joining us now, Steve Coll of The New Yorker and Andrea Mitchell of NBC News. Welcome to both of you.
We've had a chance to watch both of those two interviews. And to frame this discussion a little bit, Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times writes in his column this about Pakistan, and we'll put it on the screen for our viewers to see: "The United States has just acquired a new client state," he writes, "one with 170 million people, nuclear weapons, and Islamist insurgency and Osama bin Laden. And that's the good news. The country is Pakistan, and last week it officially became the Obama administration's biggest and most daunting rescue mission."
Steve Coll, take a moment to explain why it's so important for Americans to take the time to understand this threat in all of its complexity, both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
MR. STEVE COLL: Well, I think Doyle captured it. Two primary reasons: Pakistan, and particularly the border area along the Afghan border, is the locus of international terrorist groups that are actively plotting against the United States, Britain, India, governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Secondly, Pakistan is a country with the world's fastest growing nuclear weapons arsenal. If it became a jihadi state ruled by the Taliban, not only the United States but the entire world would be threatened in a profound and, and important way. So I don't think this is a bet in the sense that I don't think the Obama administration has a choice.
MR. GREGORY: Andrea:
MS. ANDREA MITCHELL: Agreed. I think it's the nuclear weapons, it's the locus of terror, the border with Afghanistan. Afghanistan can never be stable unless Pakistan is secured. The continuing rivalry with India and the fact that Pakistan focuses on India--and we keep telling them, the United States government, to focus on the insurgents, on the Taliban, on the al-Qaeda threat, but they still are so reluctant to move their forces away from India. So you have a regional problem, and that's why this administration at least is taking it on as a regional problem that requires that kind of solution. That's why you have Richard Holbrooke, that this is their main focus.
MR. GREGORY: And it's important to understand that our history and their history since the middle '70s is that when America averts its eyes, when America takes its eye off of that region, really bad things happen.
MS. MITCHELL: And you had both leaders telling you, "Well, you walked away. You, the United States, walked away." And it's true. They're--of course, they have responsibility for their own failures of leadership. I mean, the most extraordinary thing about watching both of them, David, is how delusional they are about their own responsibility for their countries, how weak they are as leaders. I think, you know, the administration touts the successes of this week of bringing them together, of forcing them to meet, of having their intelligence chiefs meet with each other, of getting a dialogue moving on, on every level, at every Cabinet department, that was the big success they're touting. But the fact is when you really drill down and talk to individual intelligence leaders here in the United States, they say they're not going to talk to each other, not unless we the United States go to every meeting and force them to engage, because of this rivalry.
MR. GREGORY: Steve, what struck you from hearing both of these leaders after their meetings at the White House?
MR. COLL: Well, I think what Andrea says is important, there was a detachment in both men. They were both at times very effective analysts of the nature of the crisis under their feet, but neither of them was able to express an affirmative, forward-looking political vision about how they were going to address this crisis. President Karzai's running for re-election. Where in the interview did he talk about what he wanted to do in his next five years? How is he going to, through his leadership, address the problem that the Taliban poses to Afghans, not to the United States? President Zardari, I thought his cancer metaphor about the Taliban was excellent and, and his analysis of the nature of the crisis was good. But his answer to your question, "What's your strategy?" was, "We have a democracy. That's our strategy." Well, that's not going to be adequate. The Pakistan army is up on the front lines in Swat and Buner, fighting a very difficult war. Refugees are pouring out. You would imagine the president of a democracy standing with those people who are now at the heart of the war, going to the hospital, standing in the marketplaces saying, "This is our war. We're taking this place from the Taliban." Instead, there was this air of sort of detachment throughout both interviews that was concerning.
MR. GREGORY: We, we talked about Osama bin Laden, and this is sort of the tip of the iceberg. People I've talked to indicate that there hasn't been any actionable intelligence on the whereabouts of bin Laden since 2002, which they say is a prime example of a real shifting of resources to the war in Iraq. So my question--and, Andrea, I'll start with you--you know, people follow Afghanistan and follow Pakistan and they say, you know, it's the same enemy, things have not really changed, it's just as dangerous since 9/11. How do we define victory?
MS. MITCHELL: It's the same enemy since before 9/11, when you really think back to how long we've been dealing with this threat. And victory would have to be defined by having a strong central government with democratic principles. But you see more and more often people in the administration saying, "We can't find it with these two leaders." So they're trying to figure out a way to layer Karzai after the election. They don't see an alternative but to have some sort of strong chief of staff under him to try to prop him up, because he hasn't proved able to govern. Zardari is hopelessly ineffective. Eighty percent of the popular support now goes to the Islamicist leader Sharif, the former leader, who is no friend of the United States. But they are flirting with him as an alternative, or the military. They don't really know what--where to find a stable government. And that's one of their first challenges, to find a government with which this country can deal.
MR. GREGORY: Right. So, Steve, what is it that the United States can achieve, and what is the risk of not achieving it?
MR. COLL: Well, it has to achieve stability and it has to continue to fight al-Qaeda, because al-Qaeda's continuing to fight the United States. The final dismantling of al-Qaeda's leadership is a realistic goal, but it may take some time and it certainly will take some effort. Stability in South Asia will be more difficult to achieve. But containing the Taliban, rolling them back and creating conditions for Pakistan's democracy to flourish and for the Pakistani people in particular to start to feel as if their country is going in the right direction; those, I think, have to be the goals. In the long run, stability in this region, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, can't be achieved unless Pakistan normalizes its relations with India, makes peace with India. In the long run, that's the goal. But in order to even create conditions for that to be pursued, right now the Taliban have to be rolled back.
MR. GREGORY: But, you, you...
MR. COLL: This momentum has to be...
MR. GREGORY: The, the question is, is do you--are you actually capable of defeating the Taliban? I mean, here in the western part of Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding and Zawahiri, his number two, is believed to be hiding, you have the biggest manhunt in the history of the world, the biggest bounty on their heads in the history of the world and nobody has turned these guys in.
MR. COLL: It's true, he's among friends, and it's also true that the effort to find him has not been as robust over the last five or six years as it should have been. But look, this is not a war with a purely military solution. The defeat of the Taliban is really a political project in which they are contained, marginalized and ultimately reduced to a nuisance. That is what I believe the government of the United States and its international allies is trying to press upon President Karzai, President Zardari, that you need all of your government in this fight. This is not something just for the Pakistan army. This is for the civilian administration, this is for the political parties, everyone. Because in the end, the Taliban aren't going to be eradicated, wiped out like a poppy crop.
MR. GREGORY: Mm-hmm.
MR. COLL: They're just going to be converted into ordinary politics, contained and reduced as a menace to the--to Pakistan and the to the United States.
MS. MITCHELL: And...
MR. COLL: If, if, if success is to be achieved.
MS. MITCHELL: And that's why you had what some people might have criticized as a dog and pony show at the State Department, with 32 people participating--people from every department and Karzai, Zardari, Secretary of State Clinton, Richard Holbrooke--but to try to get them to engage. Because if there isn't some kind of domestic program for these two countries, particularly Afghanistan where there has been no civilian component to the military operations, they believe that it will fail.
That said, I think it in the short term has to also boil down to the nuclear weapons. We heard the president saying at his news conference that he believes, he has confidence they are secure. They don't really have confidence they're secure. They had more confidence under Musharraf, because they had a general in charge and they felt that the military really did have this relationship where we had a triple key program, we had the, the codes as well as the Pakistanis. They now are very concerned about those weapons moving around the country.
MR. GREGORY: Is--in 10 seconds, does the U.S. public have the stomach for a longer, more protracted fight with U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan?
MR. COLL: I think the U.S. public wonders why we're there. But the truth is that we have to be there while Pakistan is at issue, its stability and its government is at issue.
MR. GREGORY: All right, we'll leave it there. Andrea Mitchell, Steve Coll, thank you both very much.
And coming next...
PRES. OBAMA: And my next 100 days will be so successful, I will be able to complete them in 72 days. And on the 73rd day I will rest.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: ...highlights from President Obama's night as comedian in chief to the press and official Washington, next on MEET THE PRESS.
MR. GREGORY: Before we go this morning, some highlights from last night's White House Correspondents dinner here in Washington, where the president met the press with some comedic jabs and one-liners.
PRES. OBAMA: Good evening, everybody. I, I would like to welcome you all to the 10-day anniversary of my first 100 days. I am Barack Obama. Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me.
Now, Sasha and Malia aren't here tonight because they're grounded. You can't just take Air Force One on a joy ride to Manhattan, I don't care whose kids you are.
Which, which brings me to another thing that's changed in, in this new, warmer, fuzzier White House, and that's my relationship with Hillary. You know, we had been rivals during the campaign, but these days we could not be closer. In fact, the second she got back from Mexico she pulled me into a hug and gave me a big kiss, told me I better get down there myself.
In the second 100 days we will design, build and open a library dedicated to my first 100 days. It's going to be big, folks. In the next 100 days I will learn to go off the prompter and Joe Biden will learn to stay on the prompter.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: Just a taste from a the White House Correspondents dinner last night. And we'll be right back.


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|International Space Station Imagery
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|S135-E-007808 (14 July 2011) --- Seven astronauts -- six from NASA and one from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) -- and three Russian cosmonauts participate on July 14, 2011 in a special meal on the Space Shuttle Atlantis' middeck. One of the final meals shared between shuttle and station crews has been called "The All-American Meal." The STS-135 crew consists of NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim; the Expedition 28 or station crew members are JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, NASA astronauts Ron Garan and Mike Fossum, and Russian cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev and Sergei Volkov. Photo credit: NASA
Curator: JSC PAO Web Team | Responsible NASA Official: Amiko Kauderer | Updated: 10/30/2012

subset: commoncrawl


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that looks like me
LOL i'm not
I'm better looking
LMAO, thankfully my sexy hair is back.Oh and I'm pretty sure the doctor was trying to tell me today that I have OCD, but he wouldn't come right out and say it.
Quote from: Michael D on January 26, 2008, 10:37:18 PMLMAO, thankfully my sexy hair is back.Oh and I'm pretty sure the doctor was trying to tell me today that I have OCD, but he wouldn't come right out and say it. ...I'm sure thats exactly what he told you Michael, but having OCD you might not have understood, rather you rushed home and googled OCD symptoms so that you would know exactly what it is all about, thats what us OCD peeps do, welcome to the club
If there is one thing Allan Wu needs to improve on is his dress sense. What's with the tank tops?
Quote from: nikita on January 29, 2008, 03:34:22 AMIf there is one thing Allan Wu needs to improve on is his dress sense. What's with the tank tops? It was hot? even the racers commented that it was the hottest day in Budapest. I have to tell you, I was pleased and am not complaining .
Quote from: puddin on January 29, 2008, 10:38:28 AMQuote from: nikita on January 29, 2008, 03:34:22 AMIf there is one thing Allan Wu needs to improve on is his dress sense. What's with the tank tops? It was hot? even the racers commented that it was the hottest day in Budapest. I have to tell you, I was pleased and am not complaining . Did we ever see the Philiminator wearing a tank top?
And puddin really wants to!
Quote from: nikita on January 30, 2008, 04:53:47 AMQuote from: puddin on January 29, 2008, 10:38:28 AMQuote from: nikita on January 29, 2008, 03:34:22 AMIf there is one thing Allan Wu needs to improve on is his dress sense. What's with the tank tops? It was hot? even the racers commented that it was the hottest day in Budapest. I have to tell you, I was pleased and am not complaining . Did we ever see the Philiminator wearing a tank top? No, but I want to
haven't seen the final cut for next week's episode so I'm psyched to see how it all ends up. I'm also wondering whether another team gets eliminated? What do you think??
Allan Wu is a tease, lol for EP3Quote haven't seen the final cut for next week's episode so I'm psyched to see how it all ends up. I'm also wondering whether another team gets eliminated? What do you think??
The Amazing AllanSubmitted by dominah on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 TARA Entertainment After a year-long break, The Amazing Race Asia host Allan Wu returns to helm the fourth season Shuhaidah Saharani Thursday, March 11th, 2010 13:01:00 Soon, fans of The Amazing Race Asia will once again be racing home to catch the show. That's right, after a year-long hiatus, TARA, as the show is fondly referred to, is returning for its fourth season! Everyone, from hardcore fans to prospective contestants, are getting excited. However, nobody is arguably more ecstatic than TARA's host himself, 38-year-old Allan Wu.After hosting the show for three consecutive seasons, the hunky Allan is itching to get back in the game."I'm pumped!" said the model-turned-actor/VJ/host in a phone interview with The Malay Mail recently. "I'm really excited. I've been anticipating it like everyone else, just trying to get all the pieces together. I just want to get ready and race again."So what can we look forward to in the new race?"You can look forward to the same host!" joked Wu, obviously not willing to give anything away and risk spoiling the show."And you can look forward to an all new line-up of contestants." Again, being master of the obvious."Since the show took a year off, I'm hoping a lot more people will sign up for the race. I'm expecting a whole new bunch of contestants with different personalities and from all walks of life, new countries to go to with all-new challenges, surprises, twists, pitfalls - other than pit stops, of course. So, just expect the unexpected."Cryptic, but it definitely sounds exciting.But would it be exciting enough to woo Wu into participating, if given the chance?"I would! If I wasn't the host, and with what I know now, I would definitely sign up for the race."And who would be his dream race partner?"In the past, I would've asked my wife. But now, I know there's no way she would sign up with me. We would probably be arguing all the time, fighting and all the stuff - that would probably be good TV but I'm not all that excited about airing my dirty laundry," he admitted, chuckling."So I think, a great partner would be Phil Keoghan, the host of the US version of The Amazing Race. Two The Amazing Race hosts racing together? Now that would be great. And we'll be arguing about our past contestants' racing experiences in our own race. That would be funny."Continuing with the hypothesis, if Wu were to race, he'd have his own strategies to win."I think it starts with choosing the right partner. It also helps to decide with my partner what our strategies are early on. I would definitely watch previous seasons of TARA so I'd know what other teams did right or didn't do right." A RACE AGAINST THE TIME: Wu with some of the contestants from TARA Season 2He added, "I'll make sure that both my partner and I are in decent shape because we're going to be walking a lot and carrying this big backpack for quite a long period. And lastly, we'd just prepare ourselves to handle a lot of stress and be able to push ourselves to the limit. I have to remind myself to just go for it with an open attitude, stay cool and not get too caught up in the moment and be too upset, emotional or angry because usually that's when teams start to tear apart." Wise words from the host - so future TARA racer wannabes, do take note.Three seasons on, with multiple locations visited, tricks and cultures learned and contestants taken care of, surely Wu must have had some unforgettable experiences on TARA."I have a lot! Every time I'm at a new country that I've never been before, I'll try to soak it all in. I've been to Budapest, Prague, Cape Town, Auckland, Melbourne, Dubai, Oman... I'm just all over the place and each location is such a visual splendour in itself."On top of that, sometimes it's the teams. You see the human element of the show like when racers just feel like giving up, you know, they are tired, sunburned but they still continue the race. And to see that desire, motivation and determination is truly inspiring. There are also times when I was stuck at the pitstop waiting for 15 to 16 hours between the first team and the last team. So, just sitting there until they have all arrived is an unforgettable moment too."Fans of TARA would probably know which season Wu was talking about. Yes, the third one where, after waiting 15 hours for the last team to arrive at the pitstop, Wu refused to wait anymore and went looking for the missing (not to mention losing) team.Apparently, they couldn't find the tool to help them out in the race and in their exhaustion, decided to sleep it out in their car! Poor Wu had to go and wake them up.In their defence, though, a race such as TARA can be quite tiring and a good sleep is quite a reward in itself. Not just for the contestants, but the host missed sleeping too, among other things."I definitely missed my family. I miss them, I miss sleeping and my workout regime. I use exercising to maintain my balance. It's hard, but I stay in shape during the race by using this exercising band called Loopz, which my wife introduced me to, and I take that with me everywhere. But with family, I'll make some time to be with them (before and after the race). Usually the kids, my daughter Sage who is five years old now and my son Jonas, he just turned four are always excited to see me after I've been gone for a long time. It's nice to know that you're missed."So, would his kids be his proudest, biggest fans? "Yes, I think so. It's funny because in the beginning, they're just puzzled watching the show and seeing their daddy on TV. Now, as they are older, they really understand what I'm actually doing. They get really excited to see their daddy going on to different countries and kicking out contestants along the way."Going back to TARA and its history, which had a Malaysian team winning the first race, then down to the fifth place on the last race, what does Wu think of the chances for the Malaysian team or teams this year?"Malaysian teams have always done so well in the race - it's like it's in the blood," he said. "I do expect Malaysia to do well this year too. Teams from Malaysia and the Philippines always do well. There's a huge market for TARA in these two countries and a lot of fans of the show are from those countries."Basically, I think because when you're a fan, and you've watched the show every season, you talk about the show and you discuss the show with friends about what to do what not to do that when you participate, you have a good foundation already. So, one, you have the enthusiasm and two, you have the knowledge too. So I really think Malaysia will do well, definitely."Let's hope he's right. So, besides TARA, what other projects is Wu working on?"Right now, Singapore is playing host for the very first youth-Olympic games later this year, so I'm doing this new reality game show called Game On for Star Hub cable TV in Singapore where we get kids aged 14 to 17-years-old to compete in various sports to raise the awareness of health and fitness, sports and competition. So I'll be doing that in a couple of weeks."Then I have some projects that are not yet confirmed, and after TARA, I might have a role in a movie. I think there are some Malaysian artistes as well, but this is also not confirmed yet. On top of that, I'm also helping my wife to promote the exercise tool called the Loopz which you can find out more at www.wureka.com and speaking of websites, I have my own where fans can go and visit too. Check out www.wulander.com to get to know me!"
Last call for amazing racers by May Seah 05:55 AM Mar 12, 2010THE call-to-entry for the fourth season of The Amazing Race Asia is ending on March 22, so if you're still dragging your feet about it, don't. You don't want to miss what Allan Wu calls "the experience of a lifetime". Having been the host for all three seasons of The Amazing Race Asia, Allan knows what he's talking about. "I have friends who'll come up to me all the time and go, 'You are team No 1!', 'This is a non-elimination round!', 'A detour is
' I'm like, 'Okay, great'," said the 38-year-old, laughing.And what makes The Amazing Race amazing? "Having the opportunity to go to different parts of the world that you probably wouldn't on a normal basis," said Allan, who named Prague as his favourite destination so far. "As a contestant, I think, more importantly, it's testing your relationship with your partner, too. Under duress, under stress, lack of sleep, performing various tasks in exotic countries ... It's not like you're just singing on a dance stage, or you're stuck on an island trying to backstab people."Ooh, a little competitive, are we?The new season promises to up the intellect and sophistication ante. "There'll definitely be some twists and turns, and new challenges. "Our show prides itself on trying not to replicate what we've done in the past, and give the audience something new." That's why the show is looking for a wide range of contestants - "the more different, the better", Allan said. If that's you, and you think you can handle a race around the world, and you have your trusty inflatable neck pillow at the ready, take Allan's advice for a winning strategy. "It's important to pick the right partner," he said. "And also it helps to get in shape, too."For information on how to apply, visit www.axn-asia.com/tara. The deadline for submissions of applications is March 22.
Wu muscles in on Amazing Race Tue, Mar 23, 2010my paper BY VICTORIA BARKERALLAN Wu may be every bit the doting husband, but if the host of The Amazing Race Asia had to pick a partner for the reality competition, it would definitely not be his other half, Singapore actress Wong Li Lin.When he spoke to my paper recently, Wu, 37, was candid. There was a time when I would have loved to race with her but, now, I dont think shed want to race with me, he said. I bet Id be a real jerk and wed be fighting all the time (thanks to my competitive nature), he added with a laugh.The two married in 2003 and have two children daughter Sage, six; and son Jonas, four.The guys ideal partner, instead, would be Phil Keoghan, who hosts the original American version of the programme.It would be cool to see how we would do together, and it sounds like a great draw, he explained.The shows format sees 10 pairs racing across the world and undertaking various physical and mental challenges in a test of endurance to win the grand prize of US$100,000 (S$140,000).It is recruiting teams for its fourth season, which is slated to begin filming in a few months.The entire season takes about a month to film, said Wu, who is Chinese American.And would-be racers will be glad to know that Wu who has also acted in shows such as Chinese drama Bukit Ho Swee (2002) and the Jack Neo movie I Do, I Do (2005) promises that this season will be one hell of a ride.He enthused: It will be a once-in-a-lifetime thing you will treasure and cherish for the rest of your life, whether you win or not.I remember visiting Prague in a previous season and then the next day I was somewhere else
its really intense but amazing.Viewers need not worry about being left out, either. With the Emmy-winning American version now in its 16th season, the affable Wu thinks that the tried-and-tested formula cannot go wrong here.(In each season) you have a whole new bag of contestants with their own idiosyncrasies and personalities
thats what makes it enthralling and enticing for the audience, he said.Wu should know this is the dude who came in second on American competition series Fear Factor in 2004.People think Im a huge risk-taker, but I think its just my competitive nature, he explained.He then added thoughtfully: I need to work on enjoying life a little bit more and appreciating what life has to offer
Im in that process email@example.com
just found out he's one step closer to making a little bit of Amazing history in China. Wow. Big things could be right around the corner...
Apr 10 15 One Truly Amazing WeekThis week has truly been an amazing week for me
literally. First, I kicked off the week with my special cameo on The Amazing Race, and it was great to hear from many long-lost friends back in the States. I figure if I cant make it back to the U.S. to meet them in person, the next best thing is to make a quick appearance on a TWELVE time Emmy Award winning television program, right?Soon after the Singapore episode of TAR aired worldwide, a local newspaper in Singapore called The New Paper decided to publish my mug along with actress Christy Yow in our birthday suits for our upcoming movie, Ge Ai.Little did I know that this publication decided to print some things that I did not say at all. In fact, I only found out today after one of my producers for The Amazing Race Asia asked me why I was quoted saying that the recent episode of TAR couldve been better? Of course, the first thing Im thinking is, How could it be any better? Heck, Im already beside myself to even see myself in the program. But then again, the picture became more clear to me after I mulled over the situation some more. Personally, Ive never been a huge fan of doing interviews. I know it comes with the job, and I always endeavor to conduct myself with the utmost truth, honesty, and integrity. Now, I dont like to consider myself as someone who was born yesterday, but I always make the extra effort to always give every journalist a chance. However, this blasphemous burn is gonna take a while to heal so dont expect me to accept any more interviews from The New Paper
EVER.Alright, enough of those negative vibes
lets get back to being Amazing!Things are moving along well for TARA4, and I got good vibes that this has all the bits and pieces to be the best season yet! Thanks again to all the applicants who applied to have the experience of a lifetime, and Ill be looking forward to seeing some of you in Start City in the near future!Alright, I had a great time on TAR. Check. Im now revving up the engines for TARA4. Check.So
its time to reveal an entirely new sort of Amazing with the first ever
Yes! The Amazing Race: China Rush! In case youre wondering, this is the real deal. China will be producing its own official version of The Amazing Race franchise and Guess WUs gonna be hosting this one too!
The time is approaching to get my feet wet in China with a "Rush." A new adventure begins, but before that, massage & dinner with Da Wifey.
This is only my opinion...I think Allan Wu is not a very good host.Rovilson Fernandez would make a better host of TARA.I am biased though since I am a Filipino... lolBut when you see Rovilson hosting TV shows here in the Phils. like the Sports Unlimited show before, you would agree with me
Alan is fine as a host. There's only one thing which he does on the show which is pretty disturbing.*commentary*Alan: This is blah blah blah, home of the blah blah blah and also *DRAMA* *OPEN ARMS* *PAUSES* THE FIFTH PITSTOP *PAUSES* *SMILES* *DRAMA*.. IN A RACE AROUND THE WORLD.And he's been doing it pretty often this season.
Got a big announcement coming up soon so look out for it! 😉
Its more immersive this time. You can even hear my thoughts about what transpired on that leg. There are very interesting things that have happened on the pit stop mat [in previous seasons], and now you can see that. Because of the long gap, fans are especially eager to watch TARA on air again. Wu agrees: Not to be boastful, but this is the biggest show in Asia. It is unifying, and [representative of] Asia. It has the competitive element, plus it is a travel show. It is such a privilege and honour, and so exciting for me to do this.
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Quantum effects help cells capture light, but the details are obscure
Sophisticated recent experiments with ultrashort laser pulses support the idea that intuition-defying quantum interactions between molecules help plants, algae, and some bacteria efficiently gather light to fuel their growth. But key details of nature's vital light-harvesting mechanisms remain obscure, and the exact role that quantum physics may play in understanding them is more subtle than was once thought, according to an Overview Article in the January issue of BioScience.
The article, by Jessica M. Anna and Gregory D. Scholes of the University of Toronto and Rienk van Grondelle of Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, describes experiments that employ a technique called 2-D electronic spectroscopy. Researchers flash laser pulses at the light-harvesting protein molecules of bacteria and algae, timed to within a billionth of a billionth of a second, then observe how the energized molecules re-emit light of different colors in the ensuing instants. This allows investigators to deduce how energy is stored by and moves among the molecules. But the results would be impossible to explain if captured light energy were conveyed by discrete entities moving randomly between molecules. Rather, the insights of quantum mechanics are needed.
Quantum mechanics envisages particles as being smeared over regions of space, rather than being pointlike, and as interfering with each other like waves. The smearing is undetectable in everyday life, but the experimental results indicate that, within arrays of light-harvesting molecules that serve as light "antennas" inside cells, such "coherence" eases ultrafast energy transfers that help organisms use solar energy. It thus allows life to pervade the planet, using the process known as photosynthesis to extract carbon dioxide from the air.
Yet Anna and her colleagues point out that the molecular details of the light-gathering apparatus have evolved very differently in different species, so there is nothing simple about how organisms exploit quantum coherence. Indeed, coherence, contrary to what some researchers have speculated, does not seem to dominate light gathering by providing an express route for conveying energy from where it is first captured to the chemical reaction center where it is used. Instead, Anna and her colleagues write, researchers should "inquire how coherence on short length and time scales might seed some kind of property or function" in light-gathering systems. Such understanding might help scientists devise environmentally friendly solar technologies that could regulate their rate of energy input and redistribute and repair their components when the need arises, as living cells do.


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Lady Caroline's description of Lord Byron has often been turned upon her. Learn more about her life and career as a writer here.
When Lady Caroline Ponsonby married William Lamb in 1805, they expected he would soon inherit a substantial estate from his aging father. When Caroline died in 1828, however, William had still not received his father's title or his riches, because his father had simply outlived her. Throughout her life Caroline lived in a wealthy world without really possessing those riches herself. Slowly, painfully, she fell from great expectations to a crippled marriage and collapsing health. A frequently cited cause of that fall has been William's over-indulgence of his wife. William remained devoted to Caroline despite her tantrums and extramarital affairs, and Caroline apparently loved him to the end. Their partnership endured — despite the very public liaison she had with Lord Byron in the spring and summer of 1812 — until she drew her last breath.
Byron described Caroline as "the cleverest most agreeable, absurd, amiable, perplexing, dangerous fascinating little being that lives now or ought to have lived 2000 years ago." Their affair lasted from March until August 1812, when Byron almost eloped with her. That fall, he broke it off, and Caroline broke down. The psychiatry of the time called it "erotomania"—dementia caused by obsession for a man. It was a malady she shared with hundreds of other Byron fans, except that she actually became Byron's lover during the first great flush of his success. Gossip soon made the affair and its aftermath into a sexual melodrama, and even sympathetic portrayals of Lady Caroline convey the image of an adulteress whose obsession with Byron drove him wild and her crazy. While Caroline was certainly Byron's lover in the flesh, their relationship was literary as well as libidinous.
She was Byron's equal in verbal wit at the time they met, when she was twenty-six and he had just turned twenty-four. They shared a love for dogs, horses, and music. Byron could sing, and Caroline studied Greek and Latin, played the harp and harpsichord and wrote songs. She made drawings and watercolors, and canvassed for elections; she even claimed she introduced Byron to Dante. Byron admired her for raising Augustus, her mentally retarded, epileptic son, at home instead of placing him with caretakers.
By 1812, when she met Byron, Lady Caroline had developed a contempt for the low morals and superficiality of Whig culture. Byron shared this disdain and admired her outrageousness. At first. Then he pulled back. Wounded, Caroline wanted him to admit that he had been deeply affected by their relationship. Though he claimed indifference to friends, he found it impossible to drop her cold. He turned distant. She grew skeletal. She became for him a ghost who preyed on his imagination, for she simply did not know how to crawl away and suffer silently as married women did when their lovers jilted them.
Most biographers have shared Byron's frustration at Lady Caroline's failure to conform to the feminine role of her era. They have not hesitated to prescribe a "sharp slap judiciously administered" (thus, Dorothy Marshall in Lord Melbourne (1975)), or even an out-and-out beating — as recommended by Henry Blyth in Caro: The Fatal Passion (1972). Criticism, too, has administered body blows to the modest corpus of her literary work, starting with the publication of Glenarvon, her first novel, in 1816. She wondered why "everybody wishes to run down and suppress the vital spark of genius I have, and in truth, it is but small (about what one sees a maid gets by excessive beating on a tinder-box). I am not vain, believe me, nor selfish, nor in love with my authorship; but I am independent, as far as a mite and bit of dust can be." The overreaction of criticism to Caroline's literary offenses complements her biographers' obsession with her drunkenness, temper tantrums and crockery-smashing. Those who have judged her novels and poetry have treated them as an extension of her personality: at best the production of a neurotic mind, and at worst a devious attempt to hurt Byron.
Lady Caroline certainly suffered when Byron ended their affair. She was threatened with a straitjacket several times subsequently. After Byron left England, however, her life did not devolve into complete histrionics. She published three novels, two accomplished parodies of Byron's poetry, several poems in literary journals, and a number of songs — besides having worked up three other novel projects and a "pocket-diary" called Penruddock that she printed in England and sought to publish in Ireland.
"Caro" has always provoked such strong reactions that it is difficult to get an objective view of her life and work. This site hopes to provide resources for assessing her place in English literary and social history. Periodically, the site will publish original scholarship on Caro and her contemporaries, like Isaac Nathan, Amelia Opie, Madame de Staël, Lady Morgan, and Maria Edgeworth. The first of these essays, by Rosemary March, is now available. It is titled:
"The Page Affair: Lady Caroline Lamb's Literary Cross Dressing."


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2019 Drinking Water Week
The winners of the 2019 Drinking Water Week poster contest, sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the American Water Works Association were:
2019 Winners
|First Place
Kimmi Lin
|Second Place
Sawyer Hennigh
Kansas City
|Third Place
Jennifer Song
The winning posters were chosen from more than 500 entries submitted by fifth grade students across Missouri. The winners were awarded $300 for first place, $200 for second place and $100 for third place by the American Water Works Association.
The poster contest is held in celebration of National Drinking Water Week, the first full week of May. Drinking Water Week is a week set aside each year to make people more aware of the benefits of tap water. A safe, reliable water supply is critical to the success of any community. It creates jobs, attracts industry and investment and provides for the health and welfare of citizens in ways ranging from disease prevention to fire suppression. We often take water resources for granted unless we are living through a drought or when depleted water supplies threaten a community's future. Water plays a vital role in our daily lives, and this poster contest asked students to celebrate what only tap water can deliver.


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Ronda Rousey (Scotia, N.Y./63kg) had her first taste of success at the top level of senior competition as she won her first two rounds Friday at the World Judo Championships in Cairo, Egypt.
The 2004 World Junior Champion started her day by defeating 2003 World Championship fifth place finisher, Vania Ishii (BRA). Rousey scored a yuko (quarter-point) at the three-minute mark with an osoto gari (large outer reaping) and hung on for the victory.
Rousey then fell behind Nadej Gerasimenko (UKR) by two kokas (smallest points), but recovered to score a waza-ari (half-point) with an uchimata (inner thigh throw), a yuko with osoto gari and into a pin for the win.
Next up for the American was Alice Schlesinger (ISR). Rousey looked to be in control when Schlesinger surprised her with a quick throw for ippon (instant win) with two minutes remaining. Schlesinger then lost to Rousey's North American rival, Marie Helen Chisholm (CAN), eliminating Rousey who had defeated Chisholm earlier this year at the Pan Am Championshps.
"As the day went on my confidence was building and I was feeling great but made a split second mistake which I couldn't recover from," said Rousey, a ninth place finisher at the Athens Games. "I feel as though I am still getting better but there is clearly room for a lot of improvement."
Katie Mocco (Scotia, N.Y./70kg), Rousey's teammate at the Jason Morris Judo Club, also posted a win at her first World Championships, coming from behind to beat Tamara Sesevic (SCG) in the second round after a first-round bye. Sesevic scored an early yuko with drop seoi nage (low shoulder throw). Mocco then knocked down Sesevic and acted quickly to secure a pin and the match.
In her next match, lost to Sisi Rasokisoki (FIJ) and was eliminated from the tournament.
"I feel I am not too far away from being much more competitive at this level," Mocco said.
Aaron Cohen (Buffalo Grove, Ill. ) , a 2003 World Team member, lost a tough opening round battle to Georgi Shindjikashvili (GEO). The Georgian countered a weak uchimata attack by Cohen to grab the early lead then held on to win by yuko despite a late rally from Cohen. Shindjikashvili lost his next match, eliminating Cohen.
"I felt good about my performance, but obviously would have liked a different outcome" Cohen said.
Dariusz Mikolajczak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) fought very well in an opening round loss to 2005 European Champion Dave Alarza (ESP). Alarza managed to score two yukos at different times during the fight but had trouble mounting much of an offensive attack against the game American. Alarza lost his next match to 2004 Olympic Champion and eventual silver medalist, Ilais Iliadis (GRE), eliminating Mikolajczak.
"I was a little overwhelmed by the competition at first but as soon as I got out there my nerves settled allowing me to put up some decent resistance," said Mikolajczak.
Women's 63kg
1. Lucie Decosse (FRA)
2. Ayumi Tanimoto (JPN)
3. Urska Zolnir (SLO)
3. Driulis Gonzalez (CUB)
5. Marie Helen Chisholm (CAN)
5. Anna Von Harnier (GER)
7. Bok Hee Lee (KOR)
7. Elisabeth Willeboordse (NED)
Also Competed: Ronda Rousey (Scotia, N.Y.), 2-1
Women's 70kg
1. Edith Bosch (NED)
2. Gevrise Emane (FRA)
3. Catherine Jacques (BEL)
3. Rasa Sraka (SLO)
5. Maryna Pryschepa (UKR)
5. Anett Boehm (GER)
7. Eun Hye Bae (KOR)
7. Sagat Abikeyeva (KAZ)
Also Competed: Katie Mocco (Scotia, N.Y.), 1-1
Men's 81kg
1. Guillaume Elmont (NED)
2. Abderahman Benamadi (ALG)
3. Roman Gontyuk (UKR)
3. Takashi Ono (JPN)
5. Min Gu Kim (KOR)
5. Anthony Rodriguez (FRA)
7. Dmitri Nossov (RUS)
7. Aleksei Budolin (EST)
Also Competed: Aaron Cohen (Buffalo Grove, Ill.), 0-1
Men's 90kg
1. Hiroshi Izumi (JPN)
2. Ilias Iliadis (GRE)
3. Mark Huizinga (NED)
3. Andrei Kazusionak (BLR)
5. Hesham Mesbah (EGY)
5. Przemysla Matyjaszek (POL)
7. Khasambi Taov (RUS)
7. Maxim Rakov (KAZ)
Also Competed: Dariusz Mikolajczak (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 0-1


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The global pre-owned medical devices market was valued at USD 2.4 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.6% from 2013 to 2019, to reach an estimated value of USD 4.9 billion in 2019.
Pre-Owned medical devices are defined as the devices that were owned earlier by any healthcare institution and that are now subject to sale or repurchase after refurbishment. 'Refurbishment' is defined as restoration of the device to its original specifications including replacement of basic wear parts and aesthetic changes to a complete end-to-end refurbishment. The pre-owned medical devices market study is thus, of interest to the refurbishment service providers.
Globally, the pre-owned CT Machines accounts for a high growth market segment - expected to grow at a CAGR of over 10% during the forecast period. The new CT machines are comparatively expensive; typically the demand for refurbished pre-owned medical devices is price-elastic i.e. directly proportional to the price of the new medical devices. Hence, due to the high price of the new CT machines, the demand for the refurbished pre-owned CT machines is expected to be high during the forecast period. Currently, in terms of value, the refurbished pre-owned CT machines market accounts for the second largest segments in the refurbished pre-owned medical devices market.
Considering the lucrativeness of the refurbished pre-owned CT machines market, many OEMs have included refurbishing of pre-owned CT machines in their proprietary, organized and accredited programs. Due to this factor, although third-party refurbishers do exist, the OEMs have garnered a leading market share of the refurbished pre-owned CT machines market. The trade terms differ accordingly, as the OEMs offer discounts of only ~20% on refurbished pre-owned CT machines, whilst third-party refurbishers offer ~40% (or higher) discounts on refurbished pre-owned CT machines. The OEMs command premium price of refurbished pre-owned CT machines that is attributable to the branded service/solutions or accredited programs. Due to all afore-mentioned factors, the refurbishment business of pre-owned CT machines is a high-margin business for the OEMs.
Currently, in terms of geography, North America represents the largest market for refurbished pre-owned medical devices; the U.S. market has garnered a majority market share as the refurbishment of pre-owned medical devices originated in the U.S. There exists favorable perception and buying behavior of customer entities such as public hospitals, large private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers. A host of other factors contributing to the high market share of the U.S. include downturn in the economy, favorable supply-side infrastructure with large number of all categories of market participants - OEMs, third-party and standalone refurbishers.
The RoW market represents the smallest market for refurbished pre-owned medical devices (as compared to other geographical markets). Many of the countries in the RoW region have banned or discouraged the usage of refurbished pre-owned medical devices. None of the supply-side or the demand-side are developed due to such binding regulatory restraints. Due to this factor, the market growth rate is also expected to be the least (as compared to other geographical markets) during the forecast period.
The global (organized) market for pre-owned medical devices is dominated by the OEMs. The organized market for pre-owned medical devices is a consolidated market with OEMs namely GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare and Siemens Healthcare garnering leading market share. There exists high entry-barrier for refurbishers in the organized market. The unorganized market for pre-owned medical devices is dominated by third-party and stand-alone refurbishers.
Related & Recently Published Reports by Transparency Market Research
The global pre-owned medical devices market is segmented as follows:
Pre-Owned Medical Devices Market, by Device Type
- X-ray and Mammography Machines
- CT Machines
- MRI Machines
- UltraSound Machines
- Nuclear Imaging and Medicine Devices
- C-arm Devices
- North America
- Europe
- Asia-Pacific
- Rest of the World (RoW)
About Us
Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We are privileged with highly experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information.
Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.
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Identifying and using vacant "white space" spectrum for Wi-Fi may get simpler, more efficient, and cheaper thanks to a new project by Microsoft and a team of Chinese researchers.
The project focused specifically on analyzing indoor white spaces, a name for vacant VHF and UHF TV channels. Then the researchers created algorithms and software, used with RF sensors, to create a system to identify and track this indoor spectrum. The system, called White-space Indoor Spectrum EnhanceR or WISER, is able to identify 30% to 50% more white space spectrum than alternative methods, most of which have been designed for outdoors.
A paper outlining the project and the prototype system is available in on online PDF file. The authors are Ranveer Chandra, with Microsoft Research, and five colleagues with the Chinese University of Hong Kong: Xuhang Ying, Jincheng Zhang, Lichao Yan, Guanglin Zhang, and Minghau Chen.
A cluster of RF sensors in a building sample the airwaves to identify and assess indoor white spaces. That data, along with the locations of wireless access points and of self-reporting clients, is stored in geo-location database. Some of the WISER algorithms deal with profiling the building, others with where to place the sensors, according to Chandra.
[FROM THE ARCHIVES:White spaces: Technology overview]
For the prototype sensors, the researchers used Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) devices, which are computer-hosted software radios, but they could have been "any spectrum analyzer with a low noise floor -- there are a few available in the market," Chandra says. In this case, the sensors ran simple software to talk via HTTP with the geo-location database.
One key advance with WISER is that a wireless client device doesn't have to do the white space spectrum sensing itself. It simply determines its location using any indoor location technique, via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth for example, and then reports its position to the geo-location database. In response, the database returns the set of white space channels available at that location, and the client uses one of them to connect to the Internet, Chandra says.
WISER itself can be embedded in future Wi-Fi access points, "which would make it very simple to deploy," Chandra says. Alternatively, a building owner could deploy small WISER sensors that could be plugged into wall outlets, scan the white space spectrum, and report their findings to the database over the interior electrical wiring by Powerline or via Wi-Fi.
Interest in white spaces has exploded since the 2008 FCC ruling that allowed unlicensed devices to use locally vacant TV channels. Regulators in other countries have followed suit. These devices, like Wi-Fi ones today in some 5-GHz channels, have to detect that the channel is vacant before taking it over. [See also "White spaces: Technology overview" from 2010.]
These unused channels, if they can be efficiently and accurately identified, promise a big boost in spectrum for Wi-Fi use. The biggest demand for that spectrum is indoors, according to Chandra. A six-month analysis of white space spectrum in Hong Kong locations found that there is about 40% more white space spectrum available indoors than outdoors.
The problem, according to Chandra, is that "most trials and studies of white spaces done before have focused on outdoor scenarios."
Microsoft Research has been working with CUHK academics since 2010 on these issues, including research aimed at showing how to use this extra spectrum.
The FCC allows two methods for detecting free channels: spectrum sensing, by the device radio, or querying an Internet-based geo-location Web service. According to the WISER research paper, the most commonly used method is the geo-location database, in part because spectrum sensing is costly; and at low thresholds, it's difficult to do accurately with off-the-shelf hardware.
The geo-location method doesn't need hardware and it's easier to deploy. But it has "inherent inefficiency," according to the researchers. That's because it uses propagation modeling rather than direct measurements to identify available spectrum "and hence, is very conservative in the channels it returns for a given location."
In July 2013, the FCC approved for use a white spaces database created by Google, designed to track vacant TV spectrum.
In essence, WISER is designed to draw on the strengths of both approaches and sidestep their weaknesses. Low-cost spectrum sensors make for accurate identification of indoor channels and to do so cost-effectively; the use of a local geo-location database relieves the clients from having to do their own scanning.
WISER was designed to minimize the cost of the spectrum sensors, and to improve the accuracy of identifying usable white space channels, without causing interference itself. A prototype WISER network was deployed at Ho Sin Hang Engineering building on the CUHK campus.
Among other conclusions, the prototype deployment found that "it suffices to identify strong channels via long-time sensing and then focus resources to track the slow-varying white space availability of weak-to-normal channels." The study also found that for a given white space channel there is a "strong correlation in signal strengths and white space availability across different locations. This suggests that we can infer the channel vacancies of multiple correlated locations from those of one or a few representative locations."
The research also found that the "indoor white spaces have different characteristics from the outdoor ones. For example, there are more contiguous unutilized TV channels indoors, which are able to support high bandwidth communication."
John Cox covers wireless networking and mobile computing for Network World.Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnwcoxnwwEmail: email@example.com
Read more about anti-malware in Network World's Anti-malware section.


text:
I am new to the indoor photography of haunted locations.
Should I use flash?
I can set my digital camera up to 400 ASA ... Canon Powershot 510.
What would those with experience suggest it will be indoors and a lighted area.
Digital Camera Questions
Started by reapr , Oct 04 2007 01:30 PM
1 reply to this topic
Posted 04 October 2007 - 01:30 PM
People will generally accept facts as truth only if the facts agree with what they already believe. Andy Rooney
Posted 23 October 2007 - 08:34 AM
I don't use digital when investigating...only film cameras. I perfer to have a negative to back up any evidence.
Yes, I use flash with 400 speed film.
Yes, I use flash with 400 speed film.
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BIRTHFIT Postpartum Series
Now that you've brought a baby into the world, it's time to rehab your body, mind, and soul. In this eight-session group training series, you will:
- honor your postpartum body,
- establish a solid core foundation,
- wake up your posterior chain,
- and enhance your posture through safe, effective functional movements that transfer into everyday life tasks.
Come prepared to move, sweat, and connect with other new moms.


text:
IPC Members Only
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Translated training materials for this program are available. Additional languages are continuously being added.
The printed circuit board is loaded with expensive components…and it does not work! There is no starting over, and the choices seem ominous: scrap it or send it out. Either way, it's going to cost you. Do you have a third option? IPC's Rework, Repair and Modification Training and Certification Program offers your company the money-saving alternative: fix it yourself!
This train-the-trainer program teaches industry-approved techniques on through hole and surface mount rework, land, conductor and laminate repair. It also provides a flexible, highly skills-oriented training program with teaching materials that enable a qualified representative from your company to train operators on a variety of procedures from the IPC-7711B/7721B Rework of Electronic Assemblies/Repair and Modification of Printed Boards and Electronic Assemblies.
Companies participating in IPC's Rework, Repair and Modification Program send candidates to approved IPC-7711/7721 training centers for forty hours of intensive, hands-on instruction. Candidates who pass the classroom exam and skills demonstrations are recognized by IPC as "Certified IPC Trainers," and leave with a lesson plan, visuals and materials for training Certified IPC Specialists on up to nine different assembly rework and repair modules. IPC-7711/7721 Certified IPC Trainers are certified for two years.
The Certified IPC Trainer course covers common rework and repair techniques. Certified IPC Specialist training is modular and only the introductory module, Common Procedures, is a required element. Other Certified IPC Specialist level modules are taught based on a company's needs. Certified IPC Specialists are certified for two years for each module taken.
Who Should Become an IPC-7711/7721 Registered Instructor?
While there are no formal entrance requirements, Certified IPC Trainer candidates must have excellent hand soldering skills. Training, manufacturing and quality assurance supervisors with considerable experience in both teaching and assembly rework procedures are strongly encouraged to receive this certification.
The IPC-7711C/7721C training and certification program is not intended to be an introduction to hand soldering and rework or be a basic hand soldering and/or basic rework course. Prospective students should have some experience in rework and repair and good eye/hand coordination. The processes in the IPC-7711C/7721C are intended to be used by operators and technicians who have at least some knowledge and experience in rework and repair of circuit boards. The training uses step-by-step process instructions to build upon the knowledge, skills, and abilities already obtained by the Certified IPC Specialist (CIS) candidate.
The credential, the savings, and the materials, that's what! This program provides Certified IPC Trainers and their companies with a valuable industry-recognized credential. Clearly, the greatest asset of this program can be measured in dollars saved on restoring very expensive electronics assemblies. IPC-7711/7721 Certified IPC Trainers also receive teaching materials for conducting all the modules of Certified IPC Specialist training.
Certified IPC Specialist training materials may be purchased from IPC only by Certified IPC Trainers and the companies they represent. Certified IPC Trainers may teach the course at any location and set a training fee, if applicable.
The term for an IPC-7711C/7721C Certified IPC Trainer is two years. Re-certification training is conducted at the Authorized Certification Centers.
Authorized IPC-7711/7721 Training Centers are listed here. These organizations provide both Registered Instructor and Operator Proficiency Training. Centers operate independently and set their own course schedules and fees. To register for the program, contact a training center. For program information, please contact the Certification Help Desk or contact IPC at +1 847-597-2982.
The slides in the downloadable Zip files are the complete, module Policy and Procedure modules. The slides are intended to be used with revision 6 of the Policy and Procedures document.
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